Courant 250th: Celebrating Connecticut Sports History

BASEBALL

Connecticut Historical Society

Hartford ¿ as well as the state, for that matter ¿ has a long, proud history of baseball. The Hartford Dark Blues played in the National League and Morgan G. Bulkeley was the first NL president. Babe Ruth played exhibitions here; Hall of Famer Warren Spahn pitched for the Hartford Chiefs, the top farm club of the Boston Braves; the Red Sox and Yankees have had farm teams in the state. The Savitt Gems were what the nickname implied. The list seems endless, as does the arguing between Yankees and Red Sox fans in a state divided. CAPTION: Bill Savitt sports a Savitt Gems baseball uniform.

Hartford ¿ as well as the state, for that matter ¿ has a long, proud history of baseball. The Hartford Dark Blues played in the National League and Morgan G. Bulkeley was the first NL president. Babe Ruth played exhibitions here; Hall of Famer Warren Spahn pitched for the Hartford Chiefs, the top farm club of the Boston Braves; the Red Sox and Yankees have had farm teams in the state. The Savitt Gems were what the nickname implied. The list seems endless, as does the arguing between Yankees and Red Sox fans in a state divided. CAPTION: Bill Savitt sports a Savitt Gems baseball uniform. (Connecticut Historical Society)

Still known in boxing circles as the greatest featherweight in history, Willie Pep was the local kid with worldwide acclaim. That combination makes him perhaps the best representation of what Courant sports coverage was about through much of the 20th century. Bat Battalino of Hartford was world featherweight champion in the 1920s. Kid Kaplan of Meriden held the same title in the same decade. Then came Pep's brilliant 27-year career. The Magic Man, Marlon Starling of Hartford, would become the welterweight world champion in the 1980s. Other intriguing figures ¿ trainers Mac Buckley and Johnny Duke to name a couple ¿ were all over Courant pages, too. CAPTION: Willie Pep, former world featherweight boxing champion, poses next to an earlier photograph of himself in his room at the West Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rocky Hill in 2001.

Still known in boxing circles as the greatest featherweight in history, Willie Pep was the local kid with worldwide acclaim. That combination makes him perhaps the best representation of what Courant sports coverage was about through much of the 20th century. Bat Battalino of Hartford was world featherweight champion in the 1920s. Kid Kaplan of Meriden held the same title in the same decade. Then came Pep's brilliant 27-year career. The Magic Man, Marlon Starling of Hartford, would become the welterweight world champion in the 1980s. Other intriguing figures ¿ trainers Mac Buckley and Johnny Duke to name a couple ¿ were all over Courant pages, too. CAPTION: Willie Pep, former world featherweight boxing champion, poses next to an earlier photograph of himself in his room at the West Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rocky Hill in 2001. (Rick Kern / Hartford Courant)

We will touch on various aspects of sports, from baseball to boxing, from Hartford's pro history to the Whalers' last game in Hartford, all culminating with a list of 250 sports moments in a special section at the end of the March.